


A Spiderpool short fiction: edition one

by tumblrwrites_ally



Category: Deadpool - Fandom, Marvel, Spiderman - Fandom, spiderpool - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Mental Illness, Mentions of Death, PTSD, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:15:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26244775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tumblrwrites_ally/pseuds/tumblrwrites_ally
Summary: Peter is stuck with the fear of grief and abandonment. Wade is trying to give some poor kid a chance at life. The year is 2027.
Relationships: Peter Parker/Wade Wilson, Spiderpool
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea how long (or short) this fiction will be, nor do I know how often I will update. This little idea came to me out of the blue one day and I thought I’d give it a chance to grow. I hope you enjoy it!

Rain pours down the windows of New York and thunder rumbles in the distance. Peter, unknowing to anyone else, is sat at his desk mindlessly working on an assignment. A cup of tea steams by his side, and his glasses are perched on the tip of his nose. He’s exhausted but can’t sleep and its been that way for a very long time now.

Across the room lies Wade in bed, he stirs in his sleep when disrupted by the little lamp on Peters desk. Sucking in a big breath and sighing, he rolls over to look at the alarm clock.

“Peter?” He groans. The soft sound of a scribbling pen stops. “It’s three in the morning.”

“Couldn’t sleep.” Peter mumbles. “They woke me up again.” Wade hums in response and sits up slowly.

“Wanna talk about it?”

“What’s there to talk about?” Peter really knows he should, he knows that keeping it in is bad but talking means reliving and he’d rather forget.

“Come back to bed,” Wade urges, “you can finish your chemical equations tomorrow.”

“It’s three-dimensional models.”

“Tomato potato. Let me cuddle you.” Peter is still for a moment then gives in. If he’s going to be awake the entire night he can at least take advantage and cuddle his partner. Wade buries his face in Peters neck and rests a heavy arm around his waist. “What was it about this time?”

“Everything was burnt to the ground, I had the gauntlet but no one was around to help me.”

“They’re just dreams.”

“They weren’t always.”

Hours roll by and the sun is up, some how Peter pull himself to his 8 am lecture but not without a double shot of espresso along the way. He sincerely regrets taking an American literature class so early in the day but someone has to do it, he just happens to be one of the unlucky souls. That class drags on forever and he may have dosed off once or twice. Later in his biology lab he is scrambling to finish a report, which is also normal but university isn’t supposed to be easy.

“We’ll have a lab quiz next week,” the assistant announces, “make sure to review lab report four as well as section two and three in your manual.” Peter makes a barely legible note on his hand and shoves his materials into his backpack. “You can grab your graded report on the way out.” He’s one of the first to take his report and the very first out of the door. A lot of the students stay behind to compare their results and ask questions but Peter honestly couldn’t be bothered anymore. He doesn’t like the sixty two percent written in red on his paper but since starting this degree, his grades have been on a steady decline. While paying for his third coffee today, his phone dings in his pocket.

Ned: Lunch in the cafeteria? Got something to show you.

Peter: Be there in 5

Peter sticks his phone back in his pocket and trudges along sipping his coffee. The cafeteria is packed with people of all shapes and sizes. A group of students wearing blue shirts are promoting their yoga club at a large fold out table, next to them are two elderly women drinking coffee and eating muffins. Profs, Peter figures.

Ned: by the burrito stand

Peter weaves himself through the crowd, mumbling ‘excuse me’ and ‘sorry’ as he goes. When he is close enough to Ned he sees that there is another guy at the table. He has a thick bush of curly red hair on his head and a very patchy beard.

“Peter!” Ned waves in excitement.

“Hey man.” Peter says sitting on the bench.

“Peter this is Lucas, Lucas this is Peter.”

“Good to meet you Peter.” Lucas smiles.

“Yeah uh, good to meet you too.”

“Lucas is in my physics lab, and you won’t believe this but he loves Star Wars!” Ned enthuses. “We’re going to see the remake of the first movie this weekend.” Peter’s heart sunk a little, he was planning on asking Ned to go with him.

“That’s really cool,” Peter lies, “me and Wade we’re going to go but work got in the way so...I guess I’ll catch it on streaming.”

“You’ve gotta check out our costumes, they’re awesome,” Ned boasts while scrolling through his phone. He pulls of a picture of himself and Lucas dressed in Jedi attire. Peter finds himself slightly irritated by this.

“I thought costumes were our thing?”

“It still is but like, the three of us is so much better. We can do so many other character combos now.”

“Yeah thats great.” Peter mumbles. “I should go, don’t wanna be late for class.” Peter stands up and slings his bag over his shoulders.

“You’re not going to eat lunch?” Lucas asks.

“Nope. Bye.” Peter scurries away from the table into the crowd before Ned or Lucas can say anything else. A dull ache is set in his chest and he wants nothing more than for this day to end.


	2. Chapter 2

“She asks about you, you know.” Wade stirs sugar into his coffee with a sigh. He is sitting in a corner cafe with Emily Preston, a friend and employee U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M., who adopted Wade’s daughter years ago. He had no idea she existed until her mother had come looking for child support. Wade had met her once but he felt to be too much of a burden on her life, she had already been through so much trauma. Still, they write letters and Wade always sends her a card for her birthday. “Maybe you should think about meeting her.”  
“You know that’s a bad idea. What if she gets hurt again because of me?” Preston looks at Wade deeply, the scars around his eyes are crinkled with sadness.  
“Something tells me that’s not your only reason for staying away.”  
“It’s the only one I’m willing to say out loud.”  
“Wade if you can’t be honest with yourself then you’ll never move on.” Wade chews his lip, pondering what to say.  
“It’s just...I had no dad growing up and my mom couldn’t keep a boyfriend for more than a month. I know jack shit about being a dad, not to mention the fact that I look like Freddie Kruger’s ball sack. I’m a nut case and make money with murder, what kind of role model could I possibly be to her?”  
“Maybe you don’t have to be a role model, maybe being a friend is more than enough.” 

Evening falls and Wade is in his suit working on the streets of midtown Manhattan, it’s a story of a poor mother looking for her drug dealing son. This wasn’t Wades first rodeo with gang violence, especially related to drugs. He doesn’t much care for the redemption of these people as long as he gets his money. By the end of the night he will have an extra two hundred bucks in his pocket. Wade lurks in the shadows, watching two men who are standing at the entrance of a worn down building. He’s looking for a guy named Warren Miller, and after a weeks worth of work he finally pin pointed the next handoff. Around the corner comes a boy looking no more than sixteen years of age, with his hands stuffed in the pockets of an oversized blue hoodie. At first, the two grown men don’t notice but when they do they move to corner the kid. Wade is unfazed by this, after all, what were they going to do? Steal his lunch money? At least thats what Wade thought until they shove the kid up against the brick wall. Wade doesn’t hesitate to move when one man pulls out a gun. He’s no saint but he’s trying to get on shields good side and letting an innocent kid die won’t get him many brownie points.   
“Hey pal, let the kid go.” All three turn to face Wade and the two men laugh.  
“Look at this Rick,” the taller one speaks, “Spider-Man is here to save the day.”  
“I’M NOT SP-“ Wade starts loudly, “you know what, just let the kid go and we wont be having any problems here.”  
“Beat it man!” Rick yells. “We got business to do, and little Warren here is part of it.” Shit, Wade thinks, this isn’t going to end well.   
“Alright,” Wade says putting hands in the air “business, I get it.” He kneels to the ground. “Besides who am I to argue with a man holding a gun?”  
“See Marty,” Rick says, “I told ya the gun would come in-“  
“COCK SHOT!” Wade punches Rick square in the groin as hard as he can and catches the gun as it falls. Before the tall man-supposedly named Marty- can make a move, Wade pops a bullet in his forehead. “Damn it, I got blood on my new shoes.” Wade sighs and stands up. Warren, who hasn’t said a word the entire time, is now sitting on the ground with a pale face. “Hey Warren, I’m here to take you home.”  
“H-how do you know me?”  
“Your mom asked me to come find you. She said you’ve been getting into trouble a lot lately.”  
“She doesn’t know anything.”  
“She knows more that you think she does, now come on I have to take you home.” Wade sticks out his hand, Warren flinches. “I’m not here to hurt you kid.” Warren nods and accepts the lift. It’s getting late into the night and Wade insists that he walks Warren home.  
“I’m not Spider-Man by the way.”  
“I know,” Warren nods, “you’re Deadpool. My mom said I was born just like you.” Wade stops in his tracks and looks at the small boy.  
“What?”  
“Yeah she said that when I was a baby I got bit by a dog but the holes went away before she got to the hospital. I never really got hurt a lot like that in a long time but I don’t ever get sick or anything.” Wade begins to walk again.  
“Ok. Definitely will be talking to your mom about that. So why the drug dealing?”  
“Marty said if I did it then I can save money to go to school. I guess I gotta get a real job now.”

The sky is black by the time Wade gets Warren home, he lives in government housing with his mother and baby sister. Wade is sat on a worn out, green couch while Warren is sent to his bedroom. There’s a space heater in the corner and one lamp in the middle of the room, water stains cover the ceiling.   
“I’m sorry I can’t offer you much,” says Warrens mom, “as you can see we don’t exactly have money to buy refreshments.”  
“Don’t worry about it Ms. Miller, I understand what it’s like.”  
“Please, call me Sherry,” she says sitting across from Wade, “I paid Sister Marry’s up front but could I offer you more?”  
“That wont be necessary, but I have some questions about Warren if you don’t mind.”  
“Of course.”  
“He said he was born like me. Is that true?” Sherry sighs and nods her head.  
“His daddy was a mutant but I didn’t know at the time. We were only together for a short period of time but as soon as I found out I was pregnant he ran off.”  
“Dead beat dads, I’ve dealt with my fair share. I can track him down for you.”   
“Honestly I think we’re better off without him, if he wanted to be in Warren’s life he would have come back long ago.” Wade hums in agreement.  
“Does Warren go to school?”  
“Not since last year. He got expelled from public school for fighting, and honestly I can’t afford to send him elsewhere.” Should Wade apologize for that? Is that rude? It doesn’t matter because before he can come up with a response a baby starts crying. “Pardon me, it shouldn’t take long.”  
“It’s ok, I should be getting home anyway. Thank you for time.” Wade steps out into the night, shutting the rusty screen door behind him. It’s cold now, and he can’t wait to climb into bed with his spider.


	3. Author note

Hello everyone, I’d like to apologize for the lack of posting. Online university has been kicking my butt. I’m hoping to get something new written once midterms are over. Thank you for your patience.


	4. Chapter 4

Peter is crouching on the ledge of a window. Shield had been monitoring a high profile sex trafficker for months and had sent Peter and Scott out to the warehouse to dig up files. Wade decided to tag along for the ride. Below he can see five men, four are speaking in a group and the last is speaking on a phone. There’s no way they are sneaking past, there isn’t enough coverage. Peter climbs back down to the two other men where Scott is shoving a hot dog in his mouth. “We aren’t getting in there without a distraction. Does anyone have any ideas?”

“Ou! I got one!” Wade exclaims while waving his hand in the air.

“We are not killing anyone.” Peter says.

“Surprisingly that isn’t part of the plan, I do however bet that they have big fat guns I could stand up against.”

“Sounds like a good idea Spider guy.” Scott nods. Peter sighs, he really doesn’t want to be here but he also doesn’t have a solid idea.

“Alright we’ll send Wade in, but no killing anyone.”

“Gotcha.” Wade trots off into the direction of the building and disappears behind the door. Scott takes the last bite of his hotdog and smacks his lips.

“Nothing like a New York dog. It’s kid of weird to have a cart so close to a fish plant though.”

“Not really,” Peter shrugs, “hundreds of workers with empty stomachs. Seems like a pretty good location to me.”

“Fair enough.” There’s a still of silence between the two, the only break comes from seagulls in the air. Peter rubs the back of his neck, his muscles have been so sore lately. “So how exactly is Wade going to do this?”

“I don’t know. Throw a rock? Make a noise? That’s usually how you distract-“ a blast rips through a wall and sends big containers into the water below, alarms flash inside the building and Peter immediately regrets ever sending Wade.

“I guess that’s our cue.” Scott takes off with a running start towards the scene, but Peter is frozen still. His spider sense is washing in big waves over his body, a thin layer of sweat breaks out on his skin and his breath is shallow. His hands and feet feel numb, and his stomach is in knots.

“Karen? Karen what’s h-happening?”

“You seem to be having an anxiety attack Peter.” He drops to his knees looking for air.

“Make it stop!” Peter rips off his mask hoping a cool breeze would come his way. His heart beat pulses in his ears and the view in front of him becomes blurry. All he can see is two moving red blobs, somewhere in the distance he hears his name.

“Shh he’s waking up.” Peter slowly cracks his eyes open, a bright light above him makes a dull ache behind the sockets. Beside him stands Wade and nurse Gattes, someone who frequently patches the Avengers up in Shield’s ER.

“Hi Peter,” nurse Gattes smiles, “how are you feeling?”

“Um,” Peter thinks, is he fine? “Ok I guess. How did I get here?”

“I carried you sweetums.” Wade answers. “You couldn’t stand up.” Peter nods in response, his mouth is a little dry for talking.

“Can I have some water?”

“Coming right up!” Wade scurries out of the room leaving the other two behind.

“So Peter,” Gattes says, “you had an anxiety attack. Do you have those often?”

“No? I don’t know. Nothing like that one.”

“Have you seen a doctor about it? You may need some medication.”

“No, I’m fine really this is just a one time thing.”

“Maybe for now but I’d rather not take any chances, I’ll have your doctor write up a prescription for an anti-anxiety pill and put in a referral to one of our therapists.”

“Please, you really don’t have-“

“I promised your aunt I’d take care of you.” Peter sighs, he really can’t argue with aunt May, he’s put her through enough in the last few years.

“Alright.” He agrees.

“Great! You’ll get your prescription before you leave.” Gattes leaves the room and before long Wade is back, water and snacks in tow.


	5. Chapter 5

“I’m sorry.”

“Wade no. Please don't do this! I love you!”

“I gotta do what’s best for me, I hate that it has to be this way.”

“You can’t do this to me!” Peter cries with tears in his eyes.

“Uno. Pick up four.”

“Wade Wilson!” Peter smacks his one-dozen cards down onto the coffee table. This is the fifth round they have played and Wade has beaten Peter every single time.

“Hey, don’t hate the player, hate the game baby boy.” Peter sighs and woefully sips the straw from a take-out cup. It’s their three year anniversary and Wade wanted to spoil Peter with an upscale (and quite frankly overpriced) meal. Everything was fine until a snooty lady with cigarette breath spotted Wade and had asked for the “abomination of God” to be removed from the restaurant. He could have sat there and took the insults, Hell he as heard a lot worse, but he knew if they had stayed Peter would have committed a murder. So burritos and cards it was. “Wanna go again? Maybe six is your lucky number.”

“It better be.” Peter takes a bite of his burrito and stands up from the floor. “Deal them out, I’m going to pee.” Wade begins scooping up the cards in his giant hands, he hates the looks of the dried blood and split skin of his knuckles. He’d never admit this out loud but sometimes he feels embarrassed in front of Peter. It’s not like he has a choice but it still sucks. Once the cards are organized he splits the deck in half, beginning to shuffle he is interrupted by his cell phone.

[Ou now’s the time to try out that British accent you’ve been working on!]

“You think so?”

[Absolutely.]

{Give it a go.}

“Ok.” Wade scoots over to reach his phone. “ ‘Ello!”

“Um, Wade Wilson?” A female voice asks.

“Afraid not love, this is Basil Fawlty.”

“Oh, this is the number he said to call. Can I leave a message? This is Jean Grey, from Xavier’s school for gifted-“ Wade panics.

“Uhhhh just one moment please!” Wade pulls the phone away from his head and softly clears his throat. “This is Wade.”

“Mr. Wilson this is Jean Grey, Professor Xavier took a look at your case and is willing to discuss it with you in person.”

“Aw sweet, when is he available?”

“Tonight.” Wade hears the flush of the toilet across the room.

“Tonight? I thought old men went to bed at 9:30.”

“He’s a busy man, if now isn’t a good time then maybe next month but-“

“No! No. Now works. I’ll be there in an hour.” Jean confirms and ends the call. Wade stands from the floor and tosses the deck he had been holding on the table. Peter emerges from the bathroom with a smile on his face.

“Alright get ready to loose to-“

“I’m sorry Peety but I got a work call.” Peter’s face drops, God Wade hates it.

“Oh. Ok yeah, that’s fine.”

“I really can’t miss it.”

“It’s ok Wade, really. I’ll clean up and you go do your hero thing.” Peter picks up some empty wrappers and crumples them together.

“You’re a gem baby boy.” And Wade is an ass, specifically because Peter doesn’t know about Warren.

The subway this time of the night is something out of a horror movie, someone is always bleeding or talking out of insanity. Not that it bothers Wade much, he might have two thirds of a brain but he could give Satan nightmares if he put in the effort. A boy and his mother sit across from him, Wade isn’t great with Spanish but the little he can translate is in reference to his suit. He probably could have guessed that anyway considering the boy had spend a solid 5 minutes staring at him. The mother shushed the child and Wade peers over, she’s wearing scrubs and dirty white shoes. A crackling sound comes over the intercom.

“Station 39. Station 39.” She stands up pulls her son along, likely to never cross paths with Wade again.

Another 10 minutes and a ride in a taxi takes Wade to the school. It’s gates are big and old, like a mansion built in the 20’s. Inside Wade can see big pane windows lite up with light and movement. He presses a call button on the gate and waits patiently, they don't feel to kind about just giving him a key to the place.

“Come in Wade.” Charles’ voice remarks in his head.

[ What is this man? A mind reader?]

{whAt Is ThIS mAn a MInD rEAdeR?}

“You two shut your yaps, this is important.” Wade is greeted at the door by Jean.

“Thank you for coming at this hour, I was going to pencil you in for an earlier time but Professor insisted it be done after hours.”

“No sweat, who doesn’t love getting invited to an old mans house after dark to speak in private?” Down a long twist of hallways they walk, past classrooms and dorms. “This is a nice cross over episode by the way, you don't often see much besides the Avengers in a spiderpool fic.”

“I’ll never understand you Wade.” Jean sighs.

“Join the club.” They stop their walk at a room full of books, sciency books that would make Peter almost too happy to see. At a desk sits Charles Xavier, bald as he ever was, reading out of a very old notebook.

“Come sit Wade.” He says without looking up. Wade plops himself down into a leather chair and leans back.

“Sweet crib you’ve got here, how much is rent?”

“Wade we have been over this-“

“Yeah, yeah, no room for the lowly little merc. So can you help Warren out or not?”

“I can,” Charles says, placing the notebook on his desk, “the only problem is that I need proof of his mutation.”

“Oh he’s got it alright, I saw it with my own eyes.”

“Forgive me for not blindly trusting you. He will need to demonstrate his abilities, and then we can place him in a room.” Wade sighs and ponders with his thoughts for a moment.

“Alright, I‘ll email you some proof and send him your way.”

“Contact Jean then, I do not use email.”

“Of course you don’t.” Wade slaps the arm of the chair twice before standing up. “Nice talk doc, I’ll be seeing you around.”

Wade is quiet stepping back into Peter’s apartment, expecting that Peter has gone to bed. He was half right, Peter is half sitting up on the couch with a yawn.

“You’re still awake?” He asks. Peter nods and rubs his eyes.

“Was waiting for you.” Peter slurs with sleep.

“Ok, bed time.” Wade kicks off his boots and scoops his boyfriend up. Even spiders need their sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

_Everything around him is crushed and burning. Dirty water spews from sewers and the dust in the air is so thick that he can’t see anything but darkness. Off in the distance he hears cries from battle and death. His mask is missing. “Peter.” He turns towards the voice._

_  
“Mr. Stark?” Half of Tony is burnt on the right side of his body, the chest of his suit is dead and the gauntlet is on his hand._

_“Why didn’t you do more? You could have done more.” Hot tears spill down Peter’s face._

_“I’m sorry Mr. Stark I tried I-I didn’t know what to do.”_

_“Peter?!” He whips his body around searching for Aunt May’s voice. She is standing at a distance, turning to dust._

_“May wait!” Peter runs and runs but can never reach her. “May don’t go!”_

_“You could have saved us all.” Tony presses._

_“I don’t know what to do!” Peter sobs. “Tony I don’t know!” A weight drags at Peter’s right arm, there he finds the gauntlet shining gold and beaming with power._

_“You know what you need to do kid.” As if he were blind to it before, Thanos’ army is closing in on him. No one is here to help him, all he need to do is..._

“Snap out of it! Peter snap out of it!” Wade is standing above shaking his body, Peter heaves with sobs trying to catch his breath. He’s scooped up and pressed against Wade’s chest. “It’s ok baby boy, it’s over now. You’re not in danger.” Peter’s body is stiff and sweaty, his chest aches and his eyes sting from the tears.

“It was -“ gasp “I couldn’t” gasp “T-tony” gasp.

“Shhh don’t speak, just breath.” Wade pets his air and rocks slowly back and forth. It took several minutes for Peter to stop sobbing, but his torment didn’t stop there. He started slipping away from his mind, instead of hearing, seeing, and feeling his surroundings they felt distant. He tried to speak but he sounded drunk. It was an out of body experience that he had never felt before. Where was he? Inside his mind? Somewhere else? He hears Wade’s voice but can’t make sense of the words, and he doesn’t notice Wade tucking him back into bed. The sun is breaking the horizon but Peter is too lost to see it. It’s lunch by the time Peter comes back around. His apartment is quiet aside from the low sound of Christmas music. Peter slowly sits up and runs his eyes, his head is pounding. He slips on his slippers and pads out to the living area where Wade is stringing lights on a ragged looking tree. Wade comes around the tree with an armful of lights and singing to the music. “Walking in a winter wonder- oh hey you’re up!”

“Yeah,” Peter says, eyeing the tree. “What is all this?”

“It’s a Christmas tree! I went to the tree lot and got this sucker for only 10 bucks. Can you believe that?!” Its pretty bad, the tree is more twig than greenery.

“Only 10? Wow.”

“I also made waffles, I’ll warm them up and we can eat. How does coffee sound? Or some tea? I think we have-“

“Just water.” Peter says rubbing his head. “And an Advil.”

“Right on it.” Wade skirts to the kitchen, making noise that wouldn’t otherwise bother Peter. Peter sits on his couch and sighs, he hasn’t started taking his prescription and maybe that was a bad decision. Wade carts over a plate of thick waffles topped with maple syrup and a tall glass of water. “Hang tight, I’ll get the Advil.” Peter nods and shoves a giant piece of waffle in his mouth. Wade can’t cook many things but he sure can make a kick-ass waffle or two. They’re topped with maple syrup made in Canada, Peter doesn’t care what brand of syrup he buys but Wade nearly crapped his pants when he found Aunt Jemima in the fridge one day. The cushion by him dips and a small pill comes into his peripheral view. “How are you feeling now?” Wade asks. Peter downs the pill with water and sighs.

“I don’t know. Tired? Weird.” Peter ponders on his mix of emotions. “What even happened? I woke up and then I was just...gone?” Wades demeanour changes, his up beat vibe relaxed into a frown.

“You dissociated. It’s a response to trauma.”

“Are you sure?” Wade nods his head and glades at the floor.

“That’s what your therapist said, or at least the one you are supposed to be seeing.” Peter kind of feel guilty, he promised Wade he would go but after the second session he felt that it was a lost cause. “You promised you’d go.”

“It wasn’t working.” Wade sighs and sits back. Suddenly Peter’s appetite wasn’t so eager. “You understand right? You get that it wouldn’t work.”

“No I don’t get it. You’re suffering but you keep running away from help. You can’t just rely on those pills.” Right. The pills that he isn’t taking.

“I don’t like therapy.” He mumbles.

“So then what do you want to do?” Peter thinks and shakes his head.

“I don’t know.” He really doesn’t.

That afternoon Peter is out shopping with May. Christmas is around the corner and as per usual, May has left all of her shopping until the last minute. “Ok I need to hit Target, Shoe Loft, and The Tea Tree before we go look for your new bed sheets. Can you run to the dollar tree and pick up three rolls of wrapping paper?”

“Sure.” Peter nods.

“Great. Here’s twenty bucks, meet me at Shoe Loft when you’re ready.” Peter stuffs the bills in his pocket and starts making his way. He passes by the mall Santa and a long line of jittery kids. It’s been years since he had his picture taken with Santa, that excitement has long since left him. The next part is boring, he picks up the wrapping paper, stands in a long line, and makes the usual small talk with a cashier. On his way back was a little more eventful. Peter had made a quick dip into a jewelry store to avoid Ned and Lucas who had been walking that way. He had no intentions of staying at all until a familiar face had caught his eye. It was May’s boyfriend Matt who was looking into a case of expensive watches. Peter looks out into the hall but Ned and Lucas are still-

“Peter!” Shit. Peter turns to face Matt. “Nice to see you bud.”

“Nice to see you too.” No, not really.

“Are you here with May?” Matt says looking around.

“Yeah but she’s at the Shoe Loft, I just-“

“Great, look I’ve been meaning to talk to you about her. I love her, and I know you and I get along well, that’s why I want to marry her. What do you say?” Peters lungs feel like they are being squeezed together, the burger he had earlier now wants to leave his stomach. “I already bought a ring but I thought there was no way you’d say no, or she’d say no. Just think, I’ll be your new dad!” Panic, SOS, get me the hell out of here.

“I have to go.” Peter speaks. He doesn’t listen to Matt’s protest and takes off in a hurry. Trying to catch his breath was painful and his feet stung of pins and needles. Peter stumbles into the bathroom and flings open a stall, he just barely makes the distance before emptying his stomach into the toilet. Rolls of wrapping paper spill from shopping bags and scatter across the floor. Peter can feel his pulse from the tips of his ears to the end of his toes. He takes a deep breath, avoiding eye contact with the mess he has left in the toilet. When his legs no longer feel like jello, he cleans his mouth and flushes the toilet. Well, he tries. Go figure that he picked a toilet that doesn’t flush. Peter is grateful that the bathroom is empty, he’d be pretty embarrassed try to collect his things after throwing up in front of strangers. This day can’t get much worse for him.


End file.
